Florida House Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, plans to launch a legislative offensive Tuesday to force funding changes at the United Nations, which benefits from a 22 percent budgetary contribution by the United States.
Ros-Lehtinen’s bill would end funding for Palestinian refugees, limit use of U.S. funds to only purposes outlined by Congress and stop contributions to peacekeeping operations until management changes are made. The legislation represents the leading edge of Republican moves against the world body at a time when the Obama administration is increasingly building its foreign policy around multilateral institutions, making the alliance-based approach central to its stance on Libya. The bill may advance in the Republican-controlled House but is likely to hit opposition in the Senate and from President Barack Obama.
Ros-Lehtinen had UN reform on her agenda even before the Florida congresswoman gained leadership of the committee in January, calling the New York-based body a “stew of corruption, mismanagement and negligence” in July 2010. more